


Cosmic Love

by Trickster_Angel



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Crushes, Getting Together, Hurt No Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Major Character Injury, Sheith Month 2017, canon compliant up to season 3 episode 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 21:49:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11953320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trickster_Angel/pseuds/Trickster_Angel
Summary: It seems too good to be true that Shiro has come back. All that time mourning his loss is over. Keith is happy until it all comes crashing down again.Written for Sheith Month 2017 for the prompt "Break".





	Cosmic Love

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the Florence + the Machine song, [Cosmic Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EIeUlvHAiM).

"How many times do you have to save me?" Shiro asked.

Keith turned around and smiled at him. "As many as it takes." 

He was about to close the door when he heard, "Keith."

He turned back around, “Shiro?”

“Will you stay?” Keith didn’t know why he asked that. But Shiro looked scared almost, eyes desperately pleading with him to stay. 

“Sure.” He closed the door and walked over to Shiro’s bed. It was dark in the room. They hadn’t turned on the lights. Keith took a seat. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Shiro said, “I’m just glad to be back.”

“We were all really worried about you,” Keith said. He didn’t say how much it hurt him to see Shiro gone. He didn’t say that he was kept up for nights worrying, wondering where he could be, hoping that Zarkon hadn’t taken him. He didn’t say that he didn’t want to be the leader, how that was Shiro’s job and how Keith felt like he was replacing Shiro. No one could replace Shiro. And no one knew the pain he’d gone through. 

“I'm sorry I worried you,” Shiro replied. 

“You didn't ask to be taken,” Keith said, “But you're back now. That's what counts.” 

“I'm back,” Shiro agreed. They lapsed into silence, avoiding eye contact. Keith wasn't sure what else to say. His relief that Shiro was back was overwhelming. All the pain he had felt was finally over.

“Shiro,” Keith said hesitantly. 

Shiro made eye contact with him. Keith could feel his confidence waning. He'd been waiting so long to say this. Ever since they'd been trapped together, since Shiro had been injured and he had piloted the Black Lion. 

“Shiro, I like you. I'm glad you're safe.” Keith held his breath, waiting for a response.

Shiro didn't seem surprised. He just smiled gently. “I'm glad to be back too, Keith. With you.”

Keith's heart completely stopped. “I just,” he paused, “wanted to say that. It's just good to have you back and I-” Keith stopped talking when Shiro’s hand ended up on his knee. “Shiro?” 

“I understand,” Shiro said, “I like you too, Keith. I wanted to get back so I could tell you.” 

Shiro leaned closer and Keith reciprocated. They were barely an inch apart. Keith could feel Shiro's breath.

“Can I kiss you?” Shiro asked.

“Yes.”

Shiro leaned in and kissed him. Barely a moment later he pulled back. 

Keith wasn't sure what to think. Shiro had just kissed him! But it wasn't a good kiss. It was too fast. Shiro had almost missed his lips. Keith had had better kisses, but none from someone he cared for so much.

“Kiss me again,” Keith said.

A hand on his cheek transitioned to a grip on his face and Shiro was kissing him again, much more intensely. Keith threw his arms around Shiro's neck, keeping him close. Within a few seconds, they broke apart again.

“Kiss me again,” Keith said.

Shiro came in again in an open mouthed kiss. Keith could feel his tongue in his mouth and he loved it. Shiro put an arm around him and gently helped Keith recline onto the bed, all the while still making out.

Keith had no idea how much time passed like that. Eventually Shiro pulled back and Keith noticed that his legs were wrapped around Shiro's waist. He was hard and so was Shiro.

“Shiro.”

“Keith.” 

“Do you want to go all the way?” Keith asked. It seemed to be the natural progression of this. And he wanted to. He'd wanted to for a long time. 

“Yes,” Shiro replied.

Keith untangled his legs and threw off his jacket. Shiro took off his shirt. It was happening and Keith couldn't be more ready for this.  He was with Shiro and everything was right.

* * *

It was late at night. Coran was working alone, muttering to himself. 

“This should work. All I have to do is - Shiro!” He was caught off guard by the paladin. 

“Sorry, Coran,” Shiro said with a comforting smile, “I couldn't sleep.”

“Oh, it's no problem, Shiro. Say, you can help me. I'm trying to tweak the castle’s defenses. If I'm right, we'll be able to withstand more hits from Galra ships.”

“Sure, I'll help,” Shiro said. 

“Splendid. Now hand me that wrench.”

Coran looked deeper into the panel he had removed, a hand waiting for the tool. There was the sound of shifting metal as Shiro grabbed it. But instead of the familiar weight being placed in his hand, pain blossomed in Coran’s back. He hit the ground hard. He turned around, looking to see who had assaulted him. But there was no one there. No one but Shiro.

“Shiro!”

Shiro just looked at him, the comforting smile gone.

“Shiro?”

* * *

Three of the six paladins were in the kitchen, goofing off and chatting. Hunk was making breakfast while Pidge sat on a counter. Lance had pulled up a chair and was complaining to the others.

“I couldn't sleep at all last night. Shiro must've been having a nightmare or something. He was being so loud.”

“I mean, he was captured by the Galra. That's pretty nightmare inducing,” Hunk said, taking a bite of the food. He smiled at the taste. 

“I don't think it was about the Galra,” Lance continued, “He was saying Keith's name. It was weird.”

“How loudly was he saying Keith's name that you heard it?” Pidge asked.

“Dude, he was being  _ really  _ loud. Like, he screamed Keith's name at least twice.” 

Pidge smirked. “Are you sure they weren't having sex?” 

Lance recoiled. “What?  _ No.  _ That's disgusting. Of course they weren't. I wasn't overhearing  _ sex _ . No.” 

“That sounds like denial,” Hunk said, joining Pidge’s teasing.

“It is denial.  _ Because it didn't happen _ .” 

“Good morning, Keith,” Pidge said loudly, looking at the door.

“That's hilarious, Pidge,” Lance said dryly. 

“Morning,” Keith replied. Lance jumped a foot in the air.

“Did you sleep well?” Hunk asked with a hinting lilt in his voice. Pidge snickered.

“Yeah, slept like a log,” Keith replied, seemingly wary at their questions. He took a seat at the table. 

“That's good,” Pidge said, spinning around on the counter to look at him, “We thought you'd be  _ worn out _ .” Lance and Keith glared at her.

“What are you saying?” Keith asked.

“That  _ I heard you last night! _ ” Lance all but shrieked.

Keith's eyes widened. “Look what Shiro and I do is-”

“So you did sleep with Shiro!” Pidge interrupted. She and Hunk high fived. Lance slammed his head into the counter. Keith face palmed and sighed. 

“Good morning,” Shiro said when he walked in. Then he took in the scene. “What happened?” 

“That's the question I wanted to ask you. Keith's going light on the details,” Pidge said with a smirk. She and Hunk looked very interested for Shiro's answer.

Shiro turned pink and turned to Keith. “You told them?”

“Lance heard us,” Keith replied, cracking open an eye to look at him. 

“Oh,” Shiro said. He took a moment to get it together. “Keith and I are together now. If we're going to disturb you-” 

Lance sighed. Hunk and Pidge laughed. 

“Let's just go to my room next time,” Keith suggested with a smirk. 

Shiro started, “We could-”

The intercom cut him off. “P-Paladins. I-I need you. In the control room. Immediately.” Allura sounded like she was crying. 

The paladins didn't hesitate; they all sprinted to the control room. There they found Allura and Coran. She was kneeling next to him, crying hysterically. There was a huge pool of blood under Coran. He had been beaten. 

“Paladins,” Allura said, still crying, “We need to get him to a sleep pod. Immediately.”

Pidge was a moment faster than everyone else. She took a step and then they were all running to Allura and Coran’s side. They knelt down in the blood. Pidge put her hand on Coran’s neck, looking for a pulse. Hunk grabbed his wrist. They all waited in silence as Pidge and Hunk took his pulse.

“He's still alive!” Pidge shrieked.

“We need to get him to a sleep pod now,” Shiro said. The paladins jumped into action. They picked up Coran and hurried to save his life.

* * *

Allura was inconsolable. Coran would recover in time but it would take a while. Someone had done their best to try and kill him. And it hit Allura hard.

They sat together, Pidge and Hunk trying to console Allura. They’d all had to change clothes so they weren’t covered in blood, but she stayed in her dress. The bottom was almost soaked through and there were streaks of blood all over her arms and chest. It was even in her hair. But no one mentioned it.

“We need to find out who did this,” Lance said, watching the other three on the couch.

“Of course we do,” Keith replied.

“Someone must have snuck onto the ship,” Shiro said, “We should fan out and look for them.”

They split up, four paladins out at a time and one would stay with Allura as they didn’t want to leave her alone. She was distraught and if someone had hurt Coran, she would probably be the next target. 

By the time Keith was with Allura, she had finally stopped crying. She refused to change out of her blood stained clothes but she put her hair up so the blood there wasn’t so visible.

Keith didn’t know what to think. He had to be strong, for Allura, for the team, to be a good leader. But he was so confused. All the joy he’d felt from Shiro’s reappearance was gone, replaced with sorrow.  He didn’t know how someone could come on board without them knowing. How they could sneak around, nearly kill someone, and leave no trace of themself. It was concerning. It meant they were very dangerous. And everyone was out alone to try and find this person. Any of them could be the next victim.

Keith stood up, to Allura’s surprise.

“Keith?”

“I should call everyone back,” he said, “If we’re dealing with someone who’s so subtle he can hurt Coran without being caught, then any of them could be next. We should do this together.”

“Keith.” Allura and Keith turned around to see who had spoken. Shiro was standing there. “I’ll sit with Allura for now. You can head out.”

“Shiro, are you sure that’s the best idea? If there’s someone that dangerous out there, any of us could get hurt or killed. We should stick together,” Keith said. 

“That’s a good idea,” Shiro said, putting a hand on Keith’s shoulder. Keith inhaled sharply. “You go get the others. Allura and I will be able to handle ourselves against whoever did this.”

“Okay,” Keith replied. He left the room and radioed the other paladins. “Guys, we shouldn’t do this by ourselves. It could be too dangerous. We should go through the ship together so we’re not caught off guard.”

“We’ve already been through a lot of the ship,” Pidge replied, “We haven’t seen a sign of anyone.”

“We need to keep looking,” Keith insisted, “Whoever hurt Coran isn’t going to get away with this.”

The other paladins agreed and started to come back to the main room. Keith waited outside for them. He could hear Allura and Shiro talking but he couldn’t make out the words. If they were having a private conversation, he didn’t want to interrupt them. He moved further away, so the other paladins would find him but so he couldn’t hear. 

He was thankful that Shiro was back. Keith was still getting used to the whole leader thing. But this was a true moment of crisis. One of their own had been injured and he was glad Shiro was back to take charge. 

“Shiro?!” Allura shouted. She sounded scared.

Keith sprinted back into the room. Shiro’s galra arm was activated and Allura was holding it back. Shiro’s expression was blank, as if he was having a boring conversation instead of fighting Allura. 

Allura threw his arm off but he came in again. She moved out of the way, looking dazed, as if she didn’t understand what was happening. Keith didn’t. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. 

Allura looked at the door and saw him. “Keith!”

“Guys, get back here now! Allura’s being attacked,” Keith radioed and immediately jumped into the fight. He stood between Allura and Shiro, watching his face. He didn’t know what was happening. He could only assume this was some kind of Galra brainwashing. Maybe the witch had done this. He had no idea but he didn’t want to fight Shiro if he could help it.

“Shiro, what are you doing?” Keith asked. 

But Shiro didn’t respond. He swung at Keith, who blocked the blow with his bayard. Shiro was strong. It hurt to try and hold him back so Keith threw off the blow. 

“Allura, get out of the way,” Keith said. 

Allura moved to the other side of the seating area and grabbed her bayard. 

Shiro swiped at Keith again but he dodged.

“Shiro, come on. It's me!” Keith said. But Shiro didn't even seem to recognize him. He continued to attack and Keith couldn't find it in him to fight back. This was Shiro, whether he knew what he was doing or not. 

“Keith!” He dodged another attack and Allura grabbed Shiro's arms from behind. He struggled to escape her grasp but she was strong. Shiro growled at her but Allura didn't relent. “Keith. Use your bayard. Knock him out.” 

But Keith could do nothing but watch. Shiro was going to break free; he was struggling too hard. Allura was meeting Keith's eyes desperately.

“Keith!”

Shiro threw her off and she hit the couches behind her. Shiro turned around to face her, seeming to ignore Keith. 

Keith ran forward and smashed the pommel of his sword against Shiro’s head. He collapsed to the ground. 

Keith and Allura were both breathing heavily. He looked her over for injuries but he couldn't tell if she was still covered in Coran’s blood or if some of her own had joined the mix. 

“Are you hurt?” Keith asked.

“I'm fine,” she replied.

“Allura!” The other paladins ran in and looked at the scene. Keith knew it had to be a lot to take in. Even he was still in shock.

“It was Shiro,” Allura said angrily, “We need to put him in a sleep pod before he wakes up.” The paladins hesitated but then moved to take Shiro. Keith knew they had to. Shiro was dangerous and they didn't know why. This was the best option, for the moment.

* * *

Allura had changed out of her bloody dress. She was back in her battle outfit, with her hair up. All traces of blood had vanished. And she was furious.

They all stared at Shiro, who was sleeping. Keith had no idea what to do. He was confused and so was everyone else. Nothing made sense.

“I can’t believe Shiro did this,” Pidge said, her eyes never leaving the pod. 

That snapped Keith back to reality. “Shiro couldn’t have done this.”

“What?” Lance asked, “Keith, you saw him attack Allura. You  _ fought _ him. Of course he did this.”

“The real Shiro wouldn’t do this. The Galra must have messed up his mind or something. Maybe this isn’t even the real Shiro,” Keith insisted.

“Can the Galra even do that?” Pidge asked, looking at Allura.

“This isn’t some kind of conspiracy theory,” Lance retorted, making eye contact with Keith, “Coran was almost killed because of him. And Allura would have been next. Stop thinking with your dick!”

“Hey,” Pidge said, getting between them. 

“Lance,” Hunk said seriously, putting a hand on his shoulder. Lance looked away.

“What is he talking about?” Allura asked darkly.

They were all silent for a moment, looking between Keith and Shiro. No one wanted to say it.

Pidge was the one to be brave. She took a deep breath and spoke, “Shiro and Keith got together last night.”

“You’re  _ courting  _ each other?” Allura asked.

“They did more than that,” Lance said. 

Allura glared at him, with as much fury in her eyes as when they’d discovered he was part Galra.

“Look, I was just as blind sided by this as you were. I was in Shiro’s room all night and I never saw him leave. I know he attacked you, but what if he didn’t attack Coran. Maybe it was someone else.”

“Keith, the evidence is really pointing at Shiro here,” Hunk said, “This isn’t easy for any of us to accept but it’s the most likely solution.”

“We should check the ship, just to be sure,” Keith said. The paladins all looked at each other, unsure.

“Come on,” Keith said, putting his helmet back on. Everyone else agreed. They split up into two teams: Keith, Hunk, and Pidge on one and Lance and Allura on the other. They combed through the ship, looking in every area that could possibly fit someone. 

Keith didn’t need to be able to read minds to know they all thought it was a waste of time. Lance and Allura seemed particularly mad at him. But the wandering at least gave him time to think. He didn’t know what to do. They didn’t have the full story as Shiro wasn’t given a chance to defend himself. It was still possible that he hadn’t done it. 

Keith almost wanted to hand justice over to Allura, as she was the princess and Coran was her citizen. On the other hand, he was the leader of the paladins. Allura was a paladin and therefore was under his leadership. But he didn’t want the responsibility. He never wanted the responsibility.  But after Shiro disappeared and the Black Lion chose him, he wasn’t given a choice. And now he was faced with a very difficult decision.

“Keith,” Pidge said. He looked at her blankly. “We’ve already gone through this section. We can move on now.”

“Okay,” Keith replied. He walked ahead of them. 

“Keith, listen, Lance and Allura are just upset right now. They know this isn’t your fault,” Hunk said, speeding up to walk next to Keith. 

“Yeah, they won’t be so mad when we get back,” Pidge agreed, coming up on Keith’s other side, “You just gotta stay strong, Keith. We all do right now.”

“Yeah, I know,” Keith said dismissively. He wasn’t ungrateful for their comfort but it wasn’t what he was focusing on. He didn’t care if Lance and Allura were mad at him. He just wanted their team back to the way it was. And they had to find a way to make it happen, as best they could.

They moved into another part of the ship, the one where Shiro was being kept. It was a large area with plenty of hallways so Keith told them to split up. If something happened, they were all very close together. No one would be without aid if something happened. 

He knew he was being entirely selfish but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He went back to Shiro. He was the leader of the paladins and deserved at least a chance to explain himself. Keith took off his helmet and put it on the ground. Hunk and Pidge were nearby if something happened. He just needed a few minutes alone with Shiro.

It didn’t take Keith long to figure out how to unlock the sleep pod. There was a hiss as it opened. Slowly, Shiro blinked. He sighed and Keith moved to help him out of the pod.

“Keith?” he asked. He sounded tired.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Keith all but whispered back, “It’s okay, Shiro.”

“What happened?” he asked, taking a quick look back to the sleep pod, “Was I injured?”

“No,” Keith replied, “Shiro, you,” he hesitated, “you attacked Allura. We had to put you under.”

“What?” Shiro asked, shocked, “I attacked Allura?”

“And, we think you attacked Coran too,” Keith admitted.

“Keith, you know I’d never,” Shiro said, “Please believe me.”

“I do, Shiro. I just wanted to know your version of events. It’s not fair to punish you without at least knowing your side of things.”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember anything. I fell asleep next to you last night. We found Coran, started searching the ship for an intruder and then I woke up here.”

“I think the Galra did something to you,” Keith said, “We haven’t found anyone on the ship who could have done this. It’s just the seven of us.”

“Keith, we have to escape,” Shiro said, “They’re not going to believe me and they’re gonna be mad at you when they find out what you’ve done.”

“I know,” Keith said, “But we can’t escape. We can figure this out, Shiro.”

“Keith, my life is in danger here. We should go.”

“We're paladins of Voltron,” Keith said quietly, “We  _ can't _ .”

Keith had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was wrong. Shiro always put the team first. Now, he was putting himself first. And the more Keith thought about it, the more things seemed wrong. Shiro would have been mad at Keith for waking him up. He would have wanted to deal with it instead of running away. And he insisted that he and Allura should be alone right before he attacked her. 

And Shiro wouldn’t have gotten into a relationship with him so quickly, wouldn’t have slept with him. He would have thought about the team, may have even refused it due to their age difference. Keith thought he would have. Shiro would have put Voltron first, not them. 

“Keith, what’s wrong?” Shiro asked.

Keith took a step back. “What did the Galra do to you? You’re not Shiro.”

Shiro smiled. It wasn’t an amused smile or a comforting smile but an almost deranged smile, showing off his teeth. Keith could feel his heart stop. 

“What gave it away?” Shiro taunted, “I’m curious.”

Keith turned around and ran for his helmet. Shiro dashed after him and grabbed him under his arms. Keith tried to grab it with his foot but he couldn’t reach it. With more strength than Keith thought he had, Shiro threw him into the sleep pod. 

Keith collided with the pod and fell to the ground. His body lit up in pain and he groaned, closing his eyes to ride out the pain. There was a clattering down the hall and Keith hoped it was one of the paladins. But his hopes were dashed when Keith opened his eyes and saw his helmet at the end of the hall. Shiro had kicked it there.

He walked over to him and knelt down. “Are you gonna get up, Keith?”

“Screw you,” Keith said, getting back to his feet. He was a paladin of Voltron. He had to fight this intruder. He had to protect his teammates. This was his fault and he had to fix it. 

Shiro laughed and stood up as well. He regarded Keith casually and said, “Oh, Keith. What is it gonna take to break you?”

Keith attacked Shiro with his bayard. He was easily blocked by Shiro’s arm. Keith relented and tried to go for Shiro’s stomach. He didn’t notice the punch coming until Shiro’s fist collided with his face. Keith fell to the ground again. 

“You can’t even fight me can you?” Shiro taunted, “You’re too in love with Shiro. How’d it feel, to sleep with him? I bet you’ve been fantasizing about it for years.”

“Shut up!” Keith yelled. He got back to his feet and tried to slash at Shiro, only to take a knee to the gut. Shiro pushed him away and then kicked him back to the ground. Keith’s bayard flew out of his hand and clattered to the ground next to him.

“You’re a weak leader, Keith,” Shiro said, “You’re never going to be what I was.” 

Keith reached out for his sword and Shiro stomped on his hand. Keith screamed in pain as the bones broke. He pulled his hand back to his chest and cradled it. Shiro kicked him in the ribs and he cried out as he felt the fractures. It was like his armor did nothing to protect him. How strong was Shiro? Keith curled up into a ball to avoid being kicked again. 

“Where is Shiro?” Keith growled, looking up at Shiro. He was in too much pain to fight anymore. He hoped someone was coming, to make up for his mistake. Maybe they realized he hadn’t radioed in. 

Shiro squatted down next to him and gave him a predatory smile. “I don’t know. But he’s probably dead. The Galra don’t treat their prisoners well, do they?” Shiro stood back up and started walking away. Keith watched him go as long as he could, but his back was towards the way Shiro went and it hurt too much to try and move. 

He was probably right. They had been right near Zarkon when Shiro disappeared. He had to have been captured, kept alive to make this clone or whatever he was and then what? Send to the arena to fight again? Tortured? Killed? The Galra would have no reason to keep him alive. He was the only thing standing between Zarkon and The Black Lion. To them, he would be better off dead. The clone was right; Shiro was gone.

There were footsteps and the sound of a gun. The clone was fighting someone. Keith could hear it but he didn’t turn around. He couldn’t watch it. He heard more footsteps, more paladins. They were all fighting. One set of footsteps came running towards him. Keith didn’t move.

“Keith!” Allura said. She knelt down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright?” She sounded worried. 

The tears ran down his face and finally, Keith broke. 

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic in the Voltron fandom. I'm happy to be here for this event. Thank you for reading. Please leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed it. :)


End file.
